Skullgirls Encore will feature a new "The Typing of Skullgirls" mode which will let you tack on extra damage for correctly typing an on-screen word after performing a super.

If you type the word correct, the attack will do 1.5 more damage than it otherwise would. Getting it most of the way correct results in normal damage, while failing during this process will net you 10% less damage.

This mode will not work online or in tournament mode, but should be a fun distraction when you want to try something different.

If you'd like to see his new mode in action, hit the jump to view a recent stream archive where the demoed the new feature.

In a recent development, CyberFront, the publisher behind Skullgirls' Japanese version / Encore re-release, has been dissolved by their parent company Kaga Electronics. Kaga acquired ownership over half of CyberFront back in 2010, and aided them in their publishing work.

Unfortunately, CyberFront's financial issues lingered, leading Kaga to claim full ownership of the company. Despite their efforts to reform the subsidiary, Kaga found the administration set up by previous management to be too problematic, and in turn, decided to close up shop.

This news doesn't only come as a surprise to Skullgirls fans, however. Lab Zero Games' own CEO, Peter “Ravidrath” Bartholow, posted a response over on the SkullHeart forum. The Lab Zero representative mentioned that he too was surprised by this development, that he will be contacting CyberFront to confirm, and will begin strategizing with Autumn Games on their next move.

On December 31, 2013, Skullgirls will temporarily be removed from the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live stores, but it will be reborn shortly thereafter as Skullgirls Encore to mark the era where it was completely funded by their highly successful Indiegogo campaign.

The expected transition to Encore is expected to happen sometime in January 2014.

If you have Skullgirls on PSN, XBL, or Steam the official Lab Zero website has a full breakdown of what you should expect as this transition occurs.

If you'd like to see Encore in action, you're in luck as there's a stream archive of a session with this version available after the jump.

While it was confirmed that Ultra Street Fighter 4 will be on the official EVO 2014 line up if Capcom releases it in early June, which they have planned, we won't be receiving information on the remaining games until January of next year. So while we wait, one of our readers gave us the idea to run a poll asking which games you all want to see at EVO next year. Thanks, DevilMaySpy!

Below, we have listed all of the main fighting game titles currently featured in tournament play, and we are giving you the option to select 6 different games.

If there is a title we missed, or you'd just like to see something else played that wasn't listed, hit the "Other" option, and let us know which game you chose in the comments section.

In a sudden move from Konami, even unbeknownst to Mike Z and the rest of the Skullgirls development team themselves, Skullgirls is set to be delisted from the Playstation Network on December 17th, and from Xbox Live Arcade on December 31st.

Mike Z explains in a stream archive you can find after the jump exactly what this means for players who currently enjoy Skullgirls, and what the team is doing to make sure that the game stays alive through a different publisher.

Reportedly, the Japanese version, which was not published by Konami, is safe from being delisted, as well as the PC version which should remain on Steam with no issue.

Hit the jump for the embedded stream archive to hear what Mike Z had to say.

Parries!
Let's see if I learned anything from 3s...
- Tap F or D on the ground, or F in the air to parry attacks.
- High and Mid moves must be parried high, low moves must be parried low. There are no moves that can be parried both directions on the ground. Obviously you can't parry throws or hit-grabs.
- Parrying a move that does block damage takes the block damage as red-damage. Parrying a move that does not do block damage takes 1/3 the move's regular damage. You cannot die from parrying, but it will reduce you to 1 HP.

Skullgirls is currently free to play until Sunday at 1 p.m. PST on Steam. If you're interested in picking up the game, it's also on sale right now for $9.99 USD, which is 33% off the regular price.

Also, today is the Skullgirls Fan Expo tournament in Long Beach, CA, starting at 6 p.m. PST and running through midnight. It'll be streamed by EightySixed, assuming the internet is working well at the venue.

More details about the event are up on the Skullheart forums, and you can hit the jump for an embed of the tournament stream, which starts several hours from now.

Big Band is now playable in the Skullgirls PC endless beta on Steam. Mike Z dropped the news in a recent patch note release.

There were a few other changes to the game, which you can read below. To see the notes about Big Band, including his move listings, hit the jump.

General
- Fixed win count in Lobbies and elsewhere. Whoops.
- Squigly can no longer combo cr.HP -> Lv2 Stancel -> cr.HP, and all hits of cr.HP have pushback in the corner. She can still combo cr.HP -> Lv1 Stancel -> cr.LK, but it is now a tighter link.

Experiment
- 240 Undizzy, and it counts down faster (-8 per frame, was -6 before, is -3 in the Real Game). I feel like this might be The One.

Autumn Games, the publisher responsible for Skullgirls, announced yesterday that their partnership with Konami has officially been terminated. Lab Zero Games’ Peter “Ravidrath” Bartholow stated that around the time of the last Skullgirls update, the team realized that it would be too difficult to continue to release patches for the game, as long as Konami was involved.

Although Autumn Games may have lost one business partner, they have also acquired a new testing collaborator in Digital Hearts. Bartholow mentions that testing of the upcoming patches is almost complete, and that it has been going quite well.

There are still a few steps that must be taken in order to get these patches out on consoles, according to Ravidrath. Because Microsoft does not support purely digital publishers, Autumn Games is working with MarvelousAQL to acquire a replacement XBLA publishing slot, which is a crucial step in this process. Autumn Games is also taking over the role as publisher for PSN.

Due to the intricacies of these publishing transitions, we may see the next Skullgirls patch, that which includes Squigly, hit PlayStation 3 consoles before the Xbox 360. However, Bartholow assured that the delay won't be quite so long this time around, since the team now has a better grasp on the patch format.

Lastly, because Konami only handled distribution for the US and Europe, Bartholow says that this shouldn't have any large affect on the release of the patch in Japan. He goes on to say that before the finalization of the Japanese patch can occur, the US and EU patches must be completed, and that they are working with their Japanese distributor, CyberFront, to make sure all of the patches release around the same time frame.

Last week, we here at EventHubs created a poll to get an idea of which 6 games our readers would most like to see as the main titles played at SoCal Regionals 2014. This was an unofficial poll generated to give the Level|Up team a better idea of what the community would like to see played next year.

The votes have been tallied, and the results are in. Interestingly enough, both Super Smash Bros. Melee, and Killer Instinct made it into the top 6, beating out games like Tekken Tag Tournament 2, and Street Fighter X Tekken. Melee is a game that isn't really played at most major events, (sans Smash specific tournaments), and Killer Instinct is still yet to be released.

We're proud to announce that our Fight Tracker system here at EventHubs has now officially added two more titles to its roster. You can now add your characters/teams and your skill level to your EventHubs profile, and search for other people playing the same game that live close to you for JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle as well as Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001.

Not only that, but we have also added the additional characters that were added to Dead or Alive 5: Ultimate, and the new character Squigly for Skullgirls.

As if the ability to find people anywhere in the world to play with wasn't enough, you can also track stats for the game — what characters are most popular, where in the world they're popular, how good people are with them, and what position they tend to use them in.

We hope that you'll enjoy these new additions to our roster, and make the most of your gaming experience by finding other people to enjoy these titles together with. You can check out the stats page for JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle here, and Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Milennium here.

Earlier today, Level|Up's Alex Valle tweeted out a question to the fighting game community. Being a part of the team that runs the SoCal Regionals tournament series, Valle wants to know which 5 - 6 games you'd like to see as the main titles played at SCR 2014, next year.

FGC, what titles do you think should be main games at SCR2014. Serious replies only! (5-6 games max)

In order to assist the Level|Up team with their decisions, we have created a poll for our readers to cast their votes. Below, we have listed all of the main fighting game titles currently featured in tournament play, and we are giving you the option to select 6 different games.

If there is a title we missed, or you'd just like to see something else played that wasn't listed, hit the "Other" option, and let us know which game you chose in the comments section.

If you're a PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 gamer and wondering where the patches are for Skullgirls on these platforms, the Lab Zero gang has an update for you.

As it turns out, there's three reasons why the console updates have been delayed.

1. There were more bugs introduced by the PC version than anticipated. We believe we've mostly cleared these up now, but still need more time before we go back into test.

2. Second, MikeZ got married (!!!) and that naturally took a lot of time away from fixing bugs.

3. We need Konami to help us out some with some things in order to do some Microsoft TRC checks, and thus far they have been completely unresponsive. Feel free to use this information however you see fit.

During last week's Salty Cupcakes stream, Lab Zero's Mike Z returned to show off the latest work-in-progress of Skullgirls' next DLC character, Big Band. The current iteration of Big Band features multiple new normal move animations, and full color of his character model as he stands idle.

There are some interesting bits of information dropped in this archive, including the comparative size of Big Band and Double's hitboxes. Although Big Band is seemingly the tallest character in the game, Double's hitbox actually stands slightly taller, which you can see in the image below.

Click image for larger version

Also, standing Heavy Punch will be changed from a normal attack that uses a large drum, to one that will utilize the large saxophone on his back. Additionally, jumping down + Heavy Kick and forward + Heavy Kick will be converted into special moves, due to the immense size of the attacks.

The Big Band footage kicks off at around 00:10:20 in the stream archive. Hit the jump to check it out.

A user by the name of 松(A･TYPEcorp.) posted some unique artwork for the Skullgirls franchise.

The style is something you might find on a trading card, and the pieces below feature 7 out of the 8 original cast members, sans Valentine, which the creator of this series said he's currently working on.